Arrests over 'party drug' death

Stephanie Balcarras was found dead at a friend's house in Blackpool

Two people have been arrested after a woman from Lanarkshire was found dead in Blackpool after apparently taking a drug dubbed "a coma in a bottle".

Stephanie Balcarras, 22, from Hamilton, was found slumped over a computer at a friend's house on Saturday morning.

It is believed she took gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), a legal drug also known as liquid ecstasy.

Two people from Lytham St Annes were arrested in connection with her death, one of them on suspicion of murder.

Ms Balcarras had been staying with her sister Laura Jane in Lancashire.

Her mother, Teresa Kerrigan, said she told by police that her daughter had taken GBL - a chemical found in household items like paint-stripper.

The last thing I wanted to do was bury one of my kids Teresa Kerrigan Mother

Ms Kerrigan, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, told the Hamilton Advertiser newspaper: "They think its a legal drug called GBL.

"I want young people to be aware of the dangers of all drugs. We don't want another family to go through the heartbreak we did.

"The last thing I wanted to do was bury one of my kids."

GBL has a similar chemical structure to the date rape drug GHB and is thought to have caused around 20 deaths in the UK, including that of 21-year-old medical student Hester Stewart in Brighton in April.

The UK government announced plans to ban the substance last August, but a delay means it is still legal and freely available.

'Unexplained death'

Miss Balcarras's funeral was held on Thursday at South Lanarkshire crematorium.

Following the arrests, a spokeswoman for Lancashire Constabulary said: "Shortly after 10am on Saturday officer attended a flat on North Promenade, St Annes, Blackpool following the report of the sudden death of a 22-year-old woman who has since been identified as Stephanie Balcarras.

"At this time the death is being treated as unexplained."

She added: "A 42-year-old man from Lytham St Annes was been arrested on suspicion of murder and possession of class A drugs and a 25-year-old woman from Lytham St Annes was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

"Both have been bailed pending further inquires."